Witchlight: A Re-telling
by lostinstars
Summary: This is Witchlight, the ninth novel in the Night World Series, but from a different angle. What if Iliana found her Soulmate? This is how I interpreted the story. **The first few chapters are fairly similar to the novel, then I go my own way! DISCLAIMER: This is purely for fun, I do not own any of the characters, plotlines or any works pertaining to the Night World Series.
1. Chapter 1

It was ten days to Christmas. Not that Keller cared, she had never been the jolly holiday type. Neither did she particularly hate it, but she noted it now as the main cause of her irritation. There were so many people! Crowding, jostling, shouting, laughing, pushing their way into shops lest all the good gifts disappear in the ten seconds it would take them to adopt a more leisurely pace. She scowled at a small child who was screaming at his mother to take him into the sweet shop they were passing. She had never been one for children either. Why oh why was she in a job that required so much tolerance of other people? She was being a grunt, and she knew it. But she couldn't help but let it get to her. She was in this job, she reminded herself, because she was the best. And she loved it – tracking, hunting, protecting, it was what she did best. And they were getting in her way! She didn't need anyone to remind her just how important her mission was today. Her flashing green eyes took on the steely glare they always got when she was utterly focused on the job at hand. Nothing would ruin this. She paused next to a shop selling sporting wear, one of the only ones that wasn't flocked to today. Closing her eyes, she expanded her senses – stretching out with her mind she could feel the body heat of all the humans around her...but not the one she was looking for. She growled under her breath, stretching further and further...but no. The only non-human she could detect was Winnie, who had taken the east of the mall while Keller patrolled the west. Winnie, just like Keller, was different. Winnie was a witch. An exceedingly powerful one, who could manifest pure power between her palms and blast anyone who threatened her. She was a fighting witch, and one of the best, which was why she was there with Keller today. Keller wasn't a witch. She was a shape-shifter. A panther, to be specific. And though she was technically half-human, she was one of the best and most powerful fighters Circle Daybreak had to command. Completing their small team was Nissa, a pale and slim – but completely deadly – vampire. The first thing Keller had learnt about Nissa, was not to get on her bad side. Since that day they had been inseperable, and unbeatable. Keller wouldn't choose any others to fight with her. They all trusted each other implicitly, and were willing to die for their cause. Today, that cause just happened to be a human. Well, not exactly. Iliana Dominick was a lost witch, a person who didn't know and didn't understand their powers. She had lived among humans for all her seventeen years, but today life for her was about to change. And not necessarily for the better, thought Keller grimly. It wasn't the easiest job, snatching a human teenager and informing them that they belonged to a supernatural race, could do magic, and oh – that they had been born with a very special power that just might prevent the apocalypse from wiping out every being on the earth. No, it wasn't the sort of thing one just volunteered for. That was where Keller came in. Not only were she and her team the best fighters, she was no-nonsense and straight forward. It wasn't good news they were bestowing, but it was necessary, so Keller would do it.

"Hey Boss!" Winnie's voice crackled into her ear.

"What's up?" Keller replied. "You got anything?"

"Nope not yet, just checking in. I don't think she's here yet."

Well we were fast, Keller mused. She touched her earpiece. "Niss? You okay out there?"

"Fine, boss." Nissa's smooth voice drawled back. "Ready to make a quick getaway."

Keller's lips twitched, the closest she ever came to smiling. Her team had never let her down, and wouldn't start now.

"Wait -" Nissa's voice crackled in again, sharper. "There's something here...a car."

Keller's stomach dropped. "Night people?"

"Think so, boss." Nissa replied grimly. "They're getting out now...yep, two vampires. And, a boy...maybe a shapeshifter? I can't tell. They're heading in the west entrance, the escalator. Want me to come in?"

Keller had snapped into live mode. Every cell in her body twitched, ready for action, ready for transformation. "No Niss stay there, we're gonna need to get away real fast."

"Winnie?"

"Yes boss?"

"She must be here now. Can you feel for her?"

"Hang on a sec boss," Winnie went quiet for a moment "Yes, got her! She's on the upper level, kinda close to you...but oh...she's not alone..."

That was all Keller needed. This was not going to happen. She had been there first, she was prepared...Iliana was NOT going to be taken from under her nose. She expanded her senses again, feeling what Winnie felt...the definite aura of a witch, almost directly above her. How had she snuck in?! Keller would blame herself later. Now, it was time for action. On quick, light feet she strode to the centre of the pavillion space she was in. Looking up, there were two more floors above her. Iliana was on the middle one, and the escalator was crowded with slow humans. She pinched her nose and breathed deeply. She needed all her wits about her for this. What was important was getting Iliana out of there, away from them, not concealing her identity. Throwing caution to the wind she crouched her legs, bunching all her muscles underneath her, pinpointed the spot on the railings she wanted to reach, and jumped. She heard the gasps of shock and alarm as she went sailing through the air. She knew what it must look like, a tall slim girl with dark waist-length hair suddenly shooting up from the floor, but she didn't care. She noted this in the small, faraway part of her mind that noted things like that. She swung on the metal rail for a split-second, before hoisting herself up onto the second floor. Abandoning her human senses entirely, her eyes glazed over with a predatory look as she spotted just inside a shop, three tall, dark haired night people. She couldn't even see Iliana, but she knew she was there, with them. It looked like they were speaking to her. Oh goddess, thought Keller. I have to do something, I have to...but before she could move, she saw Winnie...both heard and saw her at the same time, striding angrily toward the shop, and muttering in her ear "speaking to her, they can't speak to her, do they even KNOW just who they're speaking to.."

"Winnie, NO!" Keller gasped, horrified as Winnie conjured up a fiery ball of power and lunged it at the vampire on the left. He was thrown back, but before Winnie could take another step the boy in the middle, the one that Nissa couldn't place if he was a shifter or not, turned. The flat black of his eyes seemed to grin evilly and Keller's stomach turned to jelly just looking at them. He didn't do anything...or did he? She thought she might have seen the barest flick of his wrist and Winnie was thrown back as the dark power hit her like a brick wall. She slammed the cash register with an almighty crash and collapsed behind it. Keller gasped involuntarily. Not just for her friend, who was unconscious, but for the boy...who was a dragon. Keller had never seen one, indeed nobody who had been alive in the last 30,000 years had seen one...but she was sure of it. To wield such power and to expend so little energy doing it...he was the most evil of all creatures who had ever walked the earth...and the most dangerous. And he hadn't seen her. She knew this as he turned straight back around to the girl. Keller could see her now, even though the second vampire had grabbed her when Winnie had fallen, stopping her scream with a large, cold palm. She was tiny, at least a head shorter than Keller. And pretty...very pretty. She had seen a photograph but it hadn't come close at all to capturing the beauty of the girl. She wasn't just short, she was slim...frail and pixie-like, as if one blow would break her in two. And her hair...the palest blonde, it was as light as Keller's was dark. It reached to her waist also, cascading down as if spun from the finest silk. And her eyes...currently wide and terrified, Keller could clearly see their amethyst hue, the colour that marked her heritage as a lost Harman witch. But they were more than that. They were beautiful. It only took Keller a second to process all of this, but it was a second she didn't have. The boy was already leaning over his fallen comrade, attempting to wake him it seemed. Right. Stealth. That's what panthers had, if nothing else. She had only this one chance with the element of surprise, and boy would she made it count. She crept forward with the cool calm that comes from the deepest anger, for Winnie, and for the fools attempting to ruin their operation. She smiled her deadliest smile when she got close enough, they still hadn't seen her. And then, she leaped. She willed her body to change mid-leap, the air around her shimmering as she became a deadly black panther, and your worst nightmare, she added silently to the dragon before she landed on his back. Her jaws clamped around his throat, cutting off his squeal of pain before it began. Her claws were imbedded in his back as she tossed her head from side to side attempting to separate his head from his body. Her cold fury burned on as he writhed beneath her in pain, and then...pain. Not his, hers. A pure jolt of black electricity flowing into her from him, blurring her vision, twisting itself around her muscles...If Keller had been human at that point, tough as she was, she would have cried. But she grimly held on, stubbornly refusing to let him go, though the dark energy was, she knew, killing her. Through a haze of pain she heard voices, yells, screams and then...darkness.

"Boss?!"

"Boss, wake up!"

"Winnie, don't slap her."

Keller's eyelids fluttered open. She was human. She was on the floor. And the pain was gone. Well, most of the pain was gone...her muscles still burned like she'd been attacked by a dragon. Oh wait, she had. But...

"What happened?" she asked, alert and confused. There was Winnie, and Nissa. There was Iliana, unconscious it seemed, in the arms of... "Who're you?" Keller growled. She was in too much pain for pleasantaries.

"Boss, he helped us. He's a shifter!" Winnie piped up. "He was outside the shop when I got blasted, and he stopped...that thing from killing you. Nissa came in after that and got the other blooksucker – sorry Niss – and when they saw they were outnumbered they left."

Keller sat up and looked the boy over. He looked about their age, seventeen or eighteen, and was very good looking. Slim, fair skinned, dusky blonde hair falling over green eyes, he looked every bit the fairy-tale prince having rescued his fairy-tale princess from the evil dragon. But a shapeshifter? She could tell what Winnie had sensed, she sensed it too...but she couldn't figure out what animal he turned into and that was strange.

"And why," she glared at him menacingly "is he holding our girl?"

"She fainted after seeing you change, boss." Winnie was gazing at her enraptured. "She's a pure soul, she can't deal with violence or shock of any kind!"

According to prophecy, Iliana was not only one of the four Wild Powers, destined to save (or destroy) the world. She was also the Witch Child, the girl with legendary powers destined to marry the Prince of the Shapeshifters to bring together two houses end end 30,000 years of opposition. Looking at her, Keller wasn't sure that Iliana could stand up to a school bully, let alone the coming apocalypse. But her job was not to question, only to retrieve.

"Let's get her out of here." Keller pushed herself to her feet, trying to to grimace. "Before any more dragons show up." Because I won't live through that, she thought to herself.

She walked over to the strange boy and held her arms out for Iliana, who was sleeping as peacefully as an angel in his arms. Keller noticed how smooth her skin was, fair but with a faint blush underneath. It only made her prettier. She tried to push the thought away from her mind, as well as the pain, to think clearly. They would have to exit swiftly, more and more people were beginning to crowd around the shop, and those ridiculous human 'policemen' would start showing up any moment now.

"I want to go with you."

"Sorry, what?" Keller pushed all other thoughts from her mind as she focused on what the boy was saying.

"I want to go with you. I'll carry her for you, you're weak, and in pain."

Fury engulfed her quicker than the dark energy had. "Ex_cuse _me?!" She growled, seeing red. "_I _am the boss, _not you._ I don't even _know _you, you could be one of _them. _And I am stronger than you will _ever be._"

The boy looked taken aback, and instantly sorry. "I – no – I didn't mean that you are weak, just that I'd like to help...and no, I could never be the fighter you are." He bowed his head moderately, but Keller's fury didn't cease.

"Boss, um...maybe we should just take him. You and Winnie need to recharge, and I need to drive. He could watch her." Nissa was always the voice of reason, but Keller didn't want to hear reason right now. But she knew when she was beaten.

"_Fine. _You can carry her to the car, then get lost." And if you try anything – _anything –_ I'll make you sorry you were born. This last she thought to herself, but she could tell that he had read her gaze. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but she turned away.

"Right. You," she pointed to the boy. "Behind Nissa, in front of me. Winnie, behind us and make sure no one follows. Lets get out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

"Go, go, go" Keller didn't need to urge them, but she did anyway. She avoided the gazes of the humans they hurried past, ignoring the whispers, thankful for Winnie's psychic power preventing the mall security guards from accosting them. Not that they could have stopped them, but Keller was weak and didn't feel like jumping on anyone else today.

They hurried along, Keller keeping her senses open for any impending threats. They burst through the huge glass doors of the mall, following Nissa to a sleek black sedan. Ever efficient, Keller whipped the door open and spun to take Iliana from the strange shifter boy...and was almost deafened by an ear-splitting scream.

Iliana had woken up.

"You...you!" She screamed pointing at Keller, who was stunned into silence. Who would have thought that such a delicate looking girl was capable of creating such volume? She looked at Nissa and Winnie for any ideas on what to do, but they looked equally as helpless.

"Shh, shhh," the boy holding her said gently, as he lowered her feet to the floor "it's okay."

She stopped screaming, breathing hard and looked at him. Her expression softened for a moment, then she began to cry.

"It's okay," Winnie darted forward to reassure her, but Iliana flinched away from her. She looked around at them, shrinking back to the boy.

"What...who _are _you?" she managed, through her tears. Her voice, Keller noted, was light and musical like the rest of her...when she wasn't screaming.

"We" she said grimly, her hands on her hips "are all going to be dead if you don't get in the car _right now."_

Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect, and she burst into a fresh round of tears. Keller looked heavenward, disgusted. They were supposed to put all the hopes of humanity in this..._child_?

"Winnie, get her in the car. We're leaving!" It made her even angrier that she noted how beautiful Iliana could look, even when red-faced and crying hysterically.

"I can't, boss." Winnie whispered, gazing sadly at Iliana. "She should want to come with us, we're not kidnapping her."

Keller was furious, and Nissa wore the same look of exasperation.

"Hey. Iliana?" Winnie tried. "We're the good guys, okay? We're here to help you."

"No! He were just talking to me...just TALKING and SHE" pointing at Keller hysterically "ripped his head off!"

"I did NOT." Keller growled back. "I tried, but he tried to kill us all! Maybe I should have let him, then you'd have a reason to hate me."

Winnie shot her a look of reproach. She was well used to her boss's lack of tact, but it wasn't going to help them here.

"Look, Iliana," the boy got out before Winnie could try again. He took her hands gently "they're telling the truth. That boy was bad. Evil. He wanted to hurt you. We're trying to help you, and the only reason any of us are standing here right now is because she," he nodded towards Keller, who was quietly fuming, still holding the car door open "tried to rip his head off. It almost killed her doing it, but she did it to protect you. But if you don't come with us now, he could come back. It's dangerous for you here." He said this with such a gentle tenderness that Keller wanted to rip _his _head off. The girl needed shaking. And why should he look at her like that anyway? He was nothing to do with her. She seethed with anger, but he was making her case so she pinched her nose and breathed deeply.

"Right. So please. Get. In. The. Car."

Iliana had stopped crying now, and looked at her resolutely. "Okay. But only if he comes."

"FINE." Keller exploded. "Just DO IT. NOW."

Thirty seconds later they were steaming down the freeway away from the mall and, Keller hoped, away from any back-up the damned dragon sent. It seemed an age since she'd leapt on him but in reality, it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes. She was in the front with Nissa, not wanting to freak Iliana out any more by making her sit by the weird cat girl, but she felt the girls gaze on her anyway. It made her surprisingly uncomfortable as her anger seeped away.

"So why," Iliana spoke up in a voice that was surprisingly cool, "did they want to hurt me? And who are you?"

Keller sighed, searching her brain for the words. She was exhausted, and still in pain.

"It's okay boss, I'll take this one!" Winnie piped up, turning to face Iliana. "There's this place called the Night World..."

Keller zoned out. She'd heard that particular speech a couple of dozen times, and given it herself a good few of those. She belonged to Circle Daybreak, an organisation of Witches, Vampires, Shapeshifters and Humans who wanted their races to live in harmony, and who were attempting to overcome the coming apocalypse. To do this they would need on their side four Wild Powers, individuals of extrodinary power, who harnessed a power called the 'blue fire'. Iliana was one of them, and the third that they'd have recruited, if Keller and her team could deliver her safely to the daybreakers. Unfortunately for Iliana, her prophesised responsibilities didn't end there. She was also the Witch Child, one who possessed extraordinary witch powers and who was destined to marry the Prince of the Shapeshifters, uniting the Shifters and the Witches as they hadn't been in over 30,000 years. Keller could hear the reverence in Winnie's voice as she heard her tell this part. She glanced round at Iliana and saw her little face set in a stony expression. Her heart gave a little.

"Uh, Win? Maybe we don't have to tell her everything now..."

"Oh...sorry Iliana. I know, its a lot to take in...but I know you'll be happy with Prince Galen, he'll treat you real nice, I've heard he's such a gentlem-"

"I AM NOT." Iliana began shouting, cutting Winnie off mid-stream. "MARRYING SOME RANDOM MYTHICAL GUY. I AM NOT YOUR WITCH CHILD OR YOUR WILD POWER. I. WANT. TO. GO. HOME." She gradually rose in volume until the was shrieking the last few words. Through the ringing in her ears, Keller grudgingly admired her spirit. Maybe she could stand up to the apocalypse, she could scream it down.

"Maybe...we should take her home?" A quiet voice cut in. Keller had almost forgotten he was there.

"Um, WE don't do anything." She growled, he anger flaring up again. "Who are you to get a say in this?! Are you even part of Circle Daybreak? Because you'll have to be now, or we'll have to kill you." She fumed.

"I'm a friend." The boy said hastily, flushing.

"That doesn't answer my question. Who are you?"

"I'm nobody. It doesn't matter." He turned to look out the window.

Keller's normally green eyes got dangerously dark. "Nissa, pull the car over."

Nissa pulled the car over.

"Now." Keller said, almost pleasantly. "Tell us who you are, or I will throw you onto the freeway."

He looked scared, as though he didn't doubt she'd do it.

"Okay, okay. I – I am a friend. I'm not part of Circle Daybreak, well not yet...I will be, when...um,"

Keller's heart began to sink as she realised what he was trying to say, before he said it.

"I'm Galen Drache." His words echoed in her mind a few times round while her ears rung in rage.

"Please, I didn't know you'd be in that mall. I'm here with my parents for...for the ceremony. I heard the commotion, I saw you, and her..."

She tuned his words out, concentrating very hard on breathing evenly and convincing her cells they didn't need to transform and rip his throat out. Because technically, that would be committing treason. Not to mention forever ruining the relationship between the Shifters and the Witches. She didn't even understand why she was so angry. Maybe it was the tiredness, the pain lingering on. There was no reason whatsoever why she should be angry knowing that the beautiful golden boy back there was destined to marry the beautiful silver girl, the girl that she was fairly certain was going to doom the world. She didn't care. She hated them both. They deserved each other.

"Nissa," she said quietly " take her home."


	3. Chapter 3

Keller was wracking her brains.

Winnie was right; Iliana should join Circle Daybreak of her own violition. Keller didn't know when she'd started caring so much about people's feelings – and it seemed a joke to begin right in the middle of such a precarious mission – but she couldn't ignore her conscience now. She tried to reason with this new part of her by thinking that Iliana wouldn't be much help to anybody if she was dragged there kicking and screaming...she'd probably never tap into her powers, or worse...she'd use the blue fire on _them _trying to escape. Yes, Keller thought, that's why she was allowing this...to stay alive...but when she glanced back to see Iliana's wide violet eyes gazing anxiously out the window, something in her heart gave. She sat back wondering if she wasn't quite as cold as she'd thought.

"Right." Keller turned around to address her team, plus Iliana and Galen as they pulled up on the curb in front of Iliana's house.

"This is not going to be easy." Good Kell, always start with the positive. "But there's no other way I can think of. Circle Daybreak's already sent some witches here, they've spoken with Iliana's parents and we can stay as 'friends from out of town'."

Winnie and Nissa nodded.

"We'll watch Iliana" she continued "until she accepts her powers and responsibilities and comes with us to Circle Daybreak."

"If there were any powers to accept, I would happily go with you." Iliana cut in, in what she intended to be a cool voice, but came out rather polite in her musical tone.

"And since," Keller ignored her "he won't leave," she refused to even look Galen's way "I guess we're gonna have to watch him too. So basically we've got our work cut out for us, and we're compromising Iliana's safety. Perfect." She had no trouble making her tone cool. It was at the best of times.

"You don't need to watch me," Galen began, but Keller cut him off, her voice rising.

"Oh really? No you, no binding ceremony. No pact between the Witches and Shifters. SIMPLE. Get out of the car."

Everyone obeyed swiftly, even Iliana, though she was rolling her eyes at Winnie, who rolled them back, delighted at her precious Witch Child's attention. Keller herself swung her long legs out of the car...and stopped, swearing under her breath.

Iliana's house was...suburban. Large, square and very white, it was the complete opposite of anywhere Keller felt comfortable. She felt extremely out of place.

"You okay boss?" Winnie chirped. Keller ignored her, following Iliana into the house.

"Nissa, sweep the perimeter. Winnie, these wards are strong, I can feel them. But if you could check them, please. You," she pointed at Galen. "in the house before someone kills you and ruins all our lives."

She looked heavenward. Please...she thought. Just let the blue fire come...then we can all go home.

Half an hour later they were snuggled in Iliana's room. Well, Winnie and Nissa were getting along famously with Iliana who, it seemed, could be quite charming when she wasn't being kidnapped. Galen was perched awkwardly in the corner, and Keller hadn't budged from the large portrait window. Looking out on the street, it gave her the best vantage point for any incoming threats.

"...always like this?"

giggling...

"Yes, but this is the worst I think..."

"No, you're forgetting that time when.."

"Oh yes!"

more giggling...

"What? What happened? Tell me!"

Iliana's stage whisper really was terrible, Keller mused. But then maybe that was her panther senses. They prickled as she heard someone get up and felt them behind her.

"I'm sorry." Galen murmured.

That was a real whisper, thought Keller. The girls on the bed couldn't hear their conversation.

"What for?" Her voice was cold.

"Getting in the way. I just...I couldn't let that thing kill you."

"Why not?"

"Does there have to be a reason? Is compassion not enough?" his voice had an edge now, and Keller turned to look at him.

"Of course." She replied. "But yes, you did get in the way."

"If you had died, he would have taken her." his gaze flicked towards Iliana, and Keller understood. She felt a sharp twist in her stomach.

"What happens to her is my business, not yours." She informed him coolly.

"I'm going to be bound to her...we're destined to marry. Doesn't that make it my business a little?" Another twist. Strangely painful. She was going to have to watch that. They deserved each other.

"You're not a fighter." She stated.

"No."

"If you're going to be with her, you'll have to protect her. You'll have to learn."

"I will." He promised, and she turned back away, trying to push the two of them out of her thoughts.

"So," Iliana said to Winnie, tilting her pixie face to one side. "If I am a...lost witch...you call it, can I do that orange ball thing?"

"Yes of course! Well, maybe not right away...it takes some practice. But you are the Witch Child, so anything's possible! You have to concentrate really hard..." she leaned towards Iliana.

"Winnie's making some progress." Keller jumped. She'd been so absorbed in herself she hadn't heard Nissa come up to her. She looked over, to where Winnie's curly red head met Iliana's soft blonde one.

"Mmm." She agreed. "Maybe she'll come with us tonight, and we can drop this ridiculous facade."

"You're doing the right thing, boss." Nissa said softly, her almond shaped eyes gentle. "She would have been a nightmare if we'd taken her, and hated everyone in Circle Daybreak."

Keller smiled ruefully. "I know it's the right thing. I just hope its not a fatal thing." She bit her lip. "Maybe if we tell her loverboy has to report to Circle Daybreak, then she'll come." She surprised herself at how venomous she sounded.

Nissa looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. She barely knows him...I don't think she's that shallow, really. You should get to know her, boss."

Keller sighed. This was the toughest job she'd ever been on. Who knew that 90 pounds of blonde Witch could cause her so much trouble?

"...school tomorrow." Keller's ears pricked up as Iliana finished what she was saying to Winnie, who looked dumbfounded.

"What?" Keller butt in, narrowing her eyes.

"School." Iliana repeated. "I have to decide what I'm wearing tomorrow." She jumped off the bed to bound to her spacious white closet, only to stop as Keller leapt in her way.

"You are not." She growled dangerously. "Going to school." Iliana drew herself up to her full height, which put her around the top of her head at Keller's mouth, and glared, balling her tiny fists.

"Yes. I am." Keller was surprised to note that her voice contained just as much venom as her own. This chick could really stand up for herself, she decided.

"No, you are not."

"Yes, I am."

It was a stalemate. The tall, dark haired girl against the tiny blonde girl, glaring at each other.

"You saw what happened at the mall." Keller hissed. "If you think I am throwing myself at another dragon for you, you are crazy." She left out the part where she would absolutely throw herself at another dragon for Iliana, it was her job, but that was beside the point. "You are going to stay here at home, in your nice _safe _house and learn witch powers from Winnie until Saturday, when we take you to the ceremony where you will bind with Galen," this she said through gritted teeth, and to illustrate her point she reached out to grab Iliana's wrist, as if she would bind the two of them right there, only when she touched bare skin, a jolt of electricity shot through her so strong that she gasped. She looked into Iliana's wide violet eyes to see her shock mirrored, and fell. Though she stayed standing upright, her mind fell, away from everything she had ever known, everything she had ever thought was true, everything she had ever believed in. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but the little blonde girl standing there before her, with confusion and sweet vulnerability in her beautiful wide eyes. All of this Keller noted in the second that she touched Iliana's wrist, before jerking her hand away. She glanced round the room, praying that no-one else had noticed the world changing direction. Her gaze landed on Galen, who was watching Iliana stand up to Keller with a look of mixed appreciation and longing. It was no longer a mere twist inside her, but a full blown wrench. Her world had just shifted...and it didn't matter one bit. She stepped aside, taking care to look everywhere but Iliana.

"Boss..?" Nissa's voice hung in the air.

Keller sighed. "We're going to school."


	4. Chapter 4

No no no no no...

Keller's mind was a tumultuous maelstrom of emotions. She couldn't remember feeling so disorientated in her life. Somehow she made it out of the room and stumbled down the hall to the spacious white bathroom, where she finally allowed the distress to flow through her body. She gripped the edge of the sink for support, feeling the dead weight of despair settle in.

How could this happen?

She lifted her head to the mirror, studying her reflection. A plain pale face gazed back, framed with thick straight black hair that hung to her waist. The only thing slightly remarkable about her appearance, she noted dispassionately, were her eyes. Large and and piercing, they were a brilliant emerald green, with a ring of gold around the black pupils. Cats eyes.

She wasn't unattractive, she supposed, turning her face this way and that. Her skin was smooth and clear, her cheekbones high, her nose straight...but her eyebrows were thick and dark, her jaw slightly squared and...ughh! She just wasn't in the same STRATOSPHERE as Iliana. That girl should have angel wings and a halo, she thought disgustedly. She deserved someone like...Galen. Though her heart wrenched picturing them together, she couldn't deny it. From the first moment she had seen them together, Galen cradling an unconscious Iliana in his arms, she had thought how good they looked. The beautiful boy with golden hair and green eyes – though they weren't quite as bright as hers, a small self-compassionate voice told her – a perfect match to the tiny girl with silky, silvery hair, wide violet eyes, a delicate frame...and soft, pink lips...

NO. Stop it, Keller told herself furiously. She glared into the mirror, as though to frighten the truth away from herself. She could get through this. Just...don't think about what just happened, she told herself. Finish this job, deliver...the girl – Keller couldn't even bring herself to think her name – and you can go away somewhere...maybe work for a Daybreak group on the other side of the world. Yes, Keller thought. That sounds good. She ignored the empty feeling in her stomach, composing her face into a cool, detached expression.

The rest of the night passed without incident, Keller taking great care to stand as far away from Iliana as possible and avoiding her questioning gaze. Later, once they had sorted the sleeping arrangements – Galen in the spare room, Winnie on Iliana's floor, she and Nissa on couches in the living room – she let the facade drop, allowing misery to etch itself onto her features. She lay facing away from Nissa and stared into the dark material on her couch. Sleep wasn't going to come tonight.

"You look terrible, boss!" Winnie chirped as she danced into the kitchen bright and early the next morning, where Nissa and Keller were sat waiting. She felt terrible. She had snatched a few hours sleep but for the most part, been unable to turn her mind off. She'd only drifted now and then when exhaustion overcame her. Now she sat hunched over a steaming mug of coffee, feeling sluggish and sick. After her fight with the dragon the day before, she'd really needed a full nights sleep.

"Thanks." she murmered.

Iliana came dancing into the kitchen behind Winnie, followed by Galen. They both looked the opposite to how she felt – well-rested, light and full of life. Not to mention beautiful. How did Iliana wake up like that, she thought sourly, hair falling smooth and silky and cheeks rosy? Keller's own hair was a mass of tangles and her complexion pallid.

"BREAKFAST!" Iliana's mother glided into the kitchen, looking like Iliana's older sister. In fact the only differences were, Keller noted, that she was slight taller, her slim figure slighty more filled out, her cheeks plumper and her silvery hair pulled into a twist at the nape of her neck. Still it was no surprise, the Harman women always won in beauty. Keller's gaze shifted to Iliana again, who was pulling juice cartons out of the fridge. She looked like she'd been plucked out of a fairy-tale book. She sighed.

"Morning Mrs Dominick." Nissa said, always polite.

"Morning Anna," Galen smiled charmingly.

"Morning," Keller muttered, after a swift elbow poke.

"What do you feel like eating, girls?" Mrs Dominick breezed over to her daughter at the fridge, smiling brightly at them all.

"I'll make you anything you want! Anything for Iliana's dear friends." She laid a hand on her daughters shoulder, still smiling.

"Oooh mum, can we have pancakes?" Iliana piped up.

There was a general chorus of approval.

"Of course! Pancakes it is." She busied herself at the stove, looking like a domestic goddess.

"Can I help you at all Ma'am?" Galen. Sickeningly sweet thought Keller disgustedly, he couldn't make his crush anymore obvious. Iliana gave him a dazzling smile and Keller felt sick.

"So," Iliana flopped into a chair opposite Keller. "What's the plan today?" Keller forced her brain into gear.

"We take you to school. You tell your teachers something, I don't know, that we're your...relatives visiting from California.."

"Is that where you're from?" Iliana asked softly.

Keller met her gaze, ignoring the fireworks it set off inside her. "I'm from Boston." she replied flatly.

"I've always wanted to go there.." Iliana said. Her words were nonchalant, but Keller could read her eyes. She was interested, and more than a little confused at their connection. But she didn't know what it was. Keller looked away. She would never find out.

"I was abandoned there as a baby. I haven't been back since." She gritted her teeth, ignoring the waves of sympathy she felt from Iliana. She addressed the table again.

"Two of us stick by her at all times, the other two patrol the perimeter. I've already put in a call to Daybreak, we'll have extra guards posted at the school but they won't be inside. It's just us, we want to raise as little suspicion as possible."

"I – I don't mean to cause you so much trouble." Iliana said softly. "I just – I'm not the one you're looking for."

Oh yes you are, thought Keller. In more ways than one. She refused to look at her, and Winnie caught her attention, leaving Keller to mull alone in her thoughts. She was so caught up she didn't notice Nissa's cool, thoughtful gaze on her.

An hour later they were speeding through the suburbs of North Carolina, on their way to Iliana's school. This was, Keller mused darky, the stupidest thing she'd ever done in her whole life. Actually, no...the stupidest thing had been touching Iliana. She'd put so much time and energy into Circle Daybreak's cause, she'd be damned if she'd be the one to ruin it...

In the back, Iliana was chirping happily to Winnie. The two were getting along like a house on fire, and Keller couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous as they laughed together. She'd been pleasantly impressed at breakfast, when she'd seen how much Iliana had eaten. She'd been the tiniest one at the table, yet had put away more pancakes than any of them. Well she needs it, Keller thought. She's like a little ball of energy. Galen will have his work cut out for him...another wrench.

Dammit! Her own thoughts would be the death of her.

"We're here!" Iliana sung a little while later. Nissa pulled the car smoothly into a slot close to the buildings entrance. Keller automatically jumped out of the car first, expanding her senses as she had done the day before (was it really only the day before?) at the mall.

"All clear," she said to Winnie and Nissa who had followed her out. She opened the door for Iliana, who looked affronted at having had the door shut on her after Winnie. Galen climbed out after her.

"Let's go." Nissa said, ready to follow behind them.

"Let's get this party on the road!" Winnie sang, slipping her arm though Iliana's.

Let's get this over with, Keller thought darkly as they started up the steps to the high school.

The first thing Keller noticed about the school, was _Iliana. _She was _it_ here, no wonder she'd been so adamant about coming. She was the Queen Bee. But not, she thought, in the usual ways...people _liked _her. She was _nice._ All through the morning, people kept coming up to her, thanking her for this and for that, talking to her about various committees, asking her advice on anything and everything...she was devastatingly polite to them all, always directing the conversation back to the other person, inquiring about their family, laughing off the compliments...which came in droves. It wasn't just Galen, Keller saw, who was head-over-heels in love with Iliana. So, it seemed, was the entire male student body. And all the females too. Everyone wanted to be her friend. Just being near the centre of all that attention made Keller feel dazed, she couldn't imagine what it was like to have it all directed on you...but Iliana seemed to enjoy it. She _thrived _here, and Keller was about to take it all away from her. In that moment, she hated herself. She looked at Iliana, glowing with happiness and felt it, pulsating through the air. She sure hoped this emotion thing was a one-way connection...she couldn't bear the thought of tainting Iliana's natural bliss with her anger and resentment. She felt Nissa's eyes on her as she watched Iliana, and kept her face in an expression of cool detachment.

Just bear it, she chanted to herself. Just for now.


	5. Chapter 5

"But I have to eat in there!" Iliana whined, as Nissa tugged her gently away from the teeming cafeteria. "All of my friends are there..."

"It's too dangerous, Illie," Winnie reached out, trying to console her. "Isn't it, Boss? Or could we..."

"No." Keller was sharp. "We can't." She strode past them all, heading away from the crowded doors. "There's the music rooms back here somewhere, they'll be safe."

"It's just my _friends _in there," Iliana said gratingly "I highly doubt any of them are going to try to kill m-"

"Oh _really_?!" Keller whirled round, clenching her fists and glaring at the tiny stubborn girl before her. "A dragon can take any shape it wants. ANY SHAPE. I for one certainly wouldn't put it past him to change into one of your boyfriends." Iliana's eyes narrowed "He's probably in there right now" she jabbed a finger at the cafeteria for emphasis "waiting for you to flounce up to him and give yourself over. So EXCUSE ME for trying to–"

"Boss." Nissa's voice was gentle as she laid a hand on Keller's wrist.

Iliana looked like she was about to cry. Somewhere through the raging anger Keller felt a sharp pang of regret, for being the reason why. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the emotions away. She barely ever lost her temper and yet here she was, blowing up every five minutes, all because of some little blonde girl who irritated her beyond all reason.

"At least," Iliana said softly "you're speaking to me again. That's a first since breakfast." Her violet eyes were bright.

Something shot through Keller, similar to the jolt she'd gotten when she'd touched her...what was this? She didn't need to ask. She knew what it was. But it couldn't be...she couldn't let this happen. So Iliana liked speaking to her, why should that simple fact erase all her anger and send little fireworks dancing through her body? She looked away.

"I don't have to speak to you." her voice was cold. "I just have to keep you alive." She turned, stalking off toward the music room. She wasn't fast enough to see Galen, who had been silent throughout this exchange, lay a comforting hand on Iliana's shoulder. She gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to throw him out of a window. She'd be glad when this day was over...no, when this week was over, and she could leave Iliana in the hands of Circle Daybreak.

Keller kept quiet throughout lunch, having taken care to stand as far away from Iliana as possible. She maintained that she was guarding the door, so ate with her chair angled to face away from them all. That way she could tune out their chatter and let her face fall into the misery she felt inside.

She had to get a handle on this. She didn't even understand why or how it had happened. She knew that the soulmate principle was making a resurgence, Circle Daybreak had been founded on that very principle. She also knew that a Shifter-Witch bond hadn't occurred in over 30,000 years, when the races declared eternal hatred for one another. But that Shifter-Witch bond was meant to be Galen and Iliana, not Keller and Iliana...Galen was the Prince of Shifters, Iliana the Witch Child...it just made so much sense, with her out of the picture. This bond was impossible, and far too complicated...even without reaching into the obvious.

Keller had never given much thought to her sexuality...having been bumped from foster family to foster family she'd been a loner for a long time, never needing the comfort of a relationship. And having been a high-profile agent for Circle Daybreak since she was fourteen, she'd not had much time for one either. But she'd found boys attractive before, even been nursing a tiny crush on a fellow loner and Circle Daybreaker - vampire Ash Redfern...not that she'd expected or even wanted anything to come of it, and besides he'd found his soulmate already. But now...it was like a switch had been flipped inside her. It wasn't that she now found all girls attractive, far from it...just that she'd suddenly realised what she wanted. And that was one girl. As irony would have it, the one girl she absolutely couldn't have.

"Penny for your thoughts, boss?" Keller jumped as Nissa's cool voice broke her reverie. She flushed automatically...another first. Nissa's eyebrows raised slightly and Keller fumbled to organise her thoughts.

"I-um, I-was just wondering if the dragon will strike as we walk her out of school." Only a few seconds, a distant part of her brain noted, not too bad...but your voice sounds a little off.

Keller could see in her eyes that Nissa noticed this too, as she nodded, her cool eyes not leaving Keller's face. At least the flush was receding.

"I was wondering that too." She replied, finally. "But we'll manage. I'll bring the car right out front." She regarded Keller, her face inquisitive. "Anything else troubling you?"

"No." ...too fast Keller. She internally chastised herself.

Nissa looked thoughtful. "You should get to know her...maybe then she won't annoy you so much."

Keller glanced over to where Iliana sat chatting cheerfully with Winnie and Galen. She froze, as if sensing Keller's gaze on her and looked up. Keller dropped her eyes, feeling the flush creep back up.

"Maybe." She muttered. The she stiffened. Her senses were fluttering wildly, and it had nothing to do with Iliana. Soft footsteps, and an unmistakable scent in the air. She wrinkled her nose. Far too much perfume.

"Someone's coming!" She warned, jumping up. Nissa and Winnie followed her, Winnie brushing the crumbs off her lap.

Before any of them could move however, the door swung open to reveal a teenage girl, taller than Iliana but still smaller than Keller. She had shoulder-length brown hair, and wide sweet eyes. Despite her un-alarming appearance, Keller only saw a threat. The girl had a thick fringe that could easily hide a dragon's horns.

"You're not allowed in here," she said menacingly "please leave."

The girl didn't stop, just kept on striding forwards with a grin on her face, toward Iliana.

"Stop!" Keller said, her voice rising. The girl was almost at Iliana. If she was the dragon, one energy blast and they would all be on the floor...then he'd carry Iliana out like his prize. She saw red. In that instant, she both leapt, and tried to keep herself from changing, lest a human see her (the tiny, rational part of her brain said). What happened was that a half panther, half human body collided with soft flesh and Keller found herself sitting on top of the girl with a fuzz of fur all over her body, cat ears and a tail.

Iliana screamed. "No! That's Jamie! She's my friend! Stop it!" Keller froze, taking in the smooth skin of the girl's forehead where her fringe had fallen back. She was not the dragon, and Iliana was still screaming.

"Boss..?" Winnie said uncertainly, when Keller didn't move.

"She didn't stop when I said to stop." Keller muttered through gritted teeth, as though trying to justify her reckless actions.

"She's DEAF." Iliana retorted. She knelt down next to Keller. She reached out to touch Keller's furry arm, as if to move her off Jaime, but Keller whipped her arm out of the way before she made contact. She climbed off, keeping her gaze averted from Iliana.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. Her heart burned with regret and shame as she changed back into her full-human self. She'd seen Iliana's gaze. Confusion, disgust...she didn't want to decipher it past that. She was a monster, a monster who had no business with a fairytale princess. Even if it were possible, Iliana would never want to be hers. She felt deadly tired, the weight of this realisation costing her more energy than her fight with the dragon.

"Nissa, could you..?"

"Of course, boss." Nissa knelt down next to where Iliana was stroking Jaime's hair to modify the girl's memory. She wouldn't remember anything. Keller wished the same for herself.

The rest of the day passed without event, they followed Iliana to each class as her 'cousins from Hollywood', a guise which Nissa, Winnie and Galen were happy to play up, while Keller stared out through blank eyes. Once or twice she felt Iliana's gaze on her, but she didn't look. She couldn't bear to see the disgust again.

Finally, the end of the school day rolled around, to Keller's intense relief. Back at the house, she could relax a little, not have to be on constant guard. More than anything, she wanted to sleep. For a few years, if possible. They were standing out on the school steps, the three of them in a protective huddle around Iliana, while Nissa fetched the car. Keller's thoughts were far away. They'd gotten Iliana through the day, and it had passed without (much) incident. Now she was closer with Winnie, they could work on getting her to stay home the rest of the week, then come Saturday...well she wouldn't be Keller's problem anymore. Though that thought no longer satisfied her.

Beep beep!

Nissa had been quick. Keller motioned Galen to the car first, watching him get in. One down, she thought. Next, Winnie danced over to open the car door. Keller made sure her own senses her expanded, before leading Iliana down. What happened next occurred in about ten seconds, though to Keller it was like time jumping in a series of snapshots. One moment she had her hand hovering at Iliana's back. The next she had reached forward to take the car door from Winnie, not realising that Iliana had stopped a few feet back. Then she saw Winnie's face. Two snapshots, one with her little chin raised, obviously looking at where Iliana had stopped. Keller had felt a mild annoyance at this, at having to go back and lead her to the car once more. Those feelings vanished rapidly with Winnie's second expression – startled fear. A black hole opened up inside Keller and time seemed to stop as she whirled round to see the fateful picture...Iliana about two metres away, chatting with a friend, her back to the road. And a sleek black car pointed directly at her about ten metres away, clearly with no intention of slowing down.

Keller heard a scream, but didn't realise until they told her much later, that it had been her own. She didn't remember moving, or making a sound, or even making any kind of decision to do anything. By all laws of time, the car should have hit Iliana before any had time to do anything. But it was like the decision had been made for her, like her body was moving even before she saw Winnie's horrified expression, before she turned to see the car. Her body was in motion – her human body, absolutely no time to change – faster than she'd even reacted before. She leapt through the air with one thought echoing throughout her mind, screaming through her body, her muscles, her heart..._not her_.

She collided with soft flesh a split second before hers exploded into agony. She heard another scream, but this time she knew it was Iliana. Good, she thought through the pain. If she can scream, she's alive...but she had to check. She forced her eyes open, ignoring how her head split in two, to take in the scene before her. One thing swam into focus before anything else...Iliana. She was on the ground, a little way away from Keller, alive. But crying...why was she crying? She was surrounded by wreckage...what wreckage? Oh yes...the car. Keller had pushed Iliana out of the way, and been hit herself. But it was okay, she was much stronger than your average human. She was...she tried to move then, the part of her brain that wasn't remembering the collision had noticed that Iliana was hurt...she had a cut on her forehead, the blood startlingly bright on her pale skin. And she must be bruised, she was crawling slowly towards Keller, sobbing hysterically, her face a mask of pain. Keller had tried to go to her, to tell her not to move, that she was hurt. But she couldn't. Pain slammed back into her with consciousness. A distant thought wondered where everyone else was...she heard the screams but...oh. The car. It must have wrapped around me, thought Keller, dazedly through the pain...she looked around again, with great effort. She and Iliana were cornered, trapped with the wreckage around them. She could hear the screams and shouts of people on the other side, but that didn't matter right now. She understood...she was dying. There was no way she'd be in this much pain if that wasn't the case...she was broken, unable to move, unable to comfort the crying girl in front of her...her soulmate...you'll be better off without me, Keller wanted to say...but thank you for making me feel...

"No!" Iliana sobbed, finally reaching where she lay. Keller hadn't realised she'd had the strength to speak out loud...well at least she knew...at least...at least she could sleep now...she was so tired...her eyes began to droop close, though she fought to keep staring at the angel before her.

"Thank you.." she whispered again.

"No, please!" Iliana cried, hovering over Keller. "Don't..." She grasped her hand, sending fireworks and jolts and pangs of pain through her. Keller's lips twitched. She really was blessed, she thought, to feel that bond once more...that incredible bond...Iliana was more beautiful inside than out, and that was saying something. She closed her eyes and sank into it, floating on the music of their souls combined...it was close she knew, the end...but she couldn't regret anything...if she had to choose a way to die it would be this, cradled in her soulmate's love...then in a great flash of blue the end came, and Keller knew no more.


	6. Chapter 6

Pink.

That's the first thing that swam into focus when Keller cracked open her eyes. A rosy, overwhelmingly bright pink. She blinked confusedly. Where on earth was she? Nothing of that colour had ever seen the light of day in her room back at Circle Daybreak Headquarters, something that Winnie would dearly love to change. She gritted her teeth. If that little witch had snuck into her room while she was sleeping to drape a hot pink blanket over her, well she'd better-

But no...she wasn't at Headquarters, Keller recalled suddenly. She was on a mission...a _pink _mission..? Her brain wondered, still fuzzy from sleep. That was confusing too. Her whole body felt sick and sluggish, and she wasn't shaking sleep off as easily as she should be. She felt herself getting irritated then. There was an awful gap in her memory that shouldn't be there...the last thing she remembered was setting off from Circle Daybreak with Nissa and Winnie. They were going on an important mission...the most important of her career, Keller remembered with pride, she had been so determined to succeed...but what had happened then? She remembered now that the mission hadn't gone exactly to plan. That's right! A girl..._the _girl...she was important, Keller knew, more important than the mission...she felt her pulse quickening just thinking of her...but _who _was she, that was the question...then she heard it. A soft sound, so soft that she wouldn't have been able to hear it if she weren't half panther, but her animal senses were much stronger than a humans. A sort of mournful sighing sound, but different, like quick little sighs...she felt panicked hearing it, like she she needed to do something...it still didn't feel as though her body had woken up yet, but she needed to move. It took an incredible amount of effort, but Keller had always been determined. She gritten her teeth and forced her body to move. Her cheeks flushed with the exertion but she managed it, twisting around to see who was there. A tiny blonde girl sat slumped in an armchair (pink, like the comforter she had been sleeping on) crying quietly, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly and her eyes squeezed shut, not managing to hold back the tears that streamed down her rosy cheeks.

Keller's memory slammed back into her like she'd suddenly touched a live wire. Her brain raced ahead and she saw the events of the last few days as though she were watching a film fast-forwarded, as she recognised the girl in the chair.

It was her. Everything, it was all about her. Keller would have died for her, and she very nearly had. The car crash...she remembered. The end for her had flashed blue...only it hadn't been the end, it had been Iliana's blue fire, finally manifesting itself just when soulmate was about to die. Keller didn't feel strange thinking that word anymore. It felt...right. Like her world had been tilted her whole life, and now shifted back into place.

As though she could sense Keller's eyes on her, Iliana opened hers. For a long moment they just gazed at each other, bright emerald eyes into soft, amythyst ones.

Keller's cheeks flushed. She couldn't think of anything to say...why couldn't she think of anything to say? The last time she'd spoken to Iliana, she'd all but admitted their bond to her...and it was clear that Iliana hadn't forgotten.

"...thanks." she managed to croak. Her voice sounded rusty. How long had she been out?

Iliana's face was a picture of mingled shock and fear. Keller wondered what she looked like. After getting hit at 90 miles an hour, she didn't want to know.

"K...Keller?" Iliana whispered. She seemed frozen to the chair. "Are you...I...how are you?" she too, seemed uncertain of what to say.

"Um," Keller was confused. "I'm a little tired, but OK." She noted how perfect Iliana looked, with her hair pulled back into a messy bun and red around her eyes. "All thanks to you," she added.

Iliana gave a funny, half-choking laugh. "I thought...I really thought, that you–" her face screwed up, as though she was about to cry again. Keller's heart gave, and she tried to push herself up into a sitting position. "No!" Iliana leaned forward, gently pushing her back down. Though there was a pink comforter between them, Keller still felt butterflies at her touch. "Grandma Harman says you're not to get up, at least until she's had a look at you."

"I'm fine, I prom- wait. Grandma Harman..?" Her brow furrowed. "What in Goddess's name is she doing here?"

Iliana did the choking laugh again. "She says that too. That's all she said when she first saw you, Oh Goddess..." she trailed off, looking pained.

"Why is she here?" Keller demanded. Half-formed thoughts raced through her head. Had there been another dragon attack while she'd been unconscious?

"For you, of course." Iliana looked at her as though she was crazy. You were unconscious, you wouldn't wake up. I didn't know what else to do..." she stared down at her hands, and for the first time Keller noticed a bandage across her left palm.

"What-" she began, but never got to finish. The door opened, revealing Nissa and Winnie. Iliana jumped up.

"She's awake!" she exclaimed. Keller's teammates rushed in, both looking pale, as though they hadn't slept.

"Boss!" Winnie cried, flying forward to throw herself on Keller. Keller mirrored Nissa's exasperated gaze over the Witch's hysterical auburn head.

"I'm OK." Keller repeated for the third time. "Now, does anyone want to tell me what happened?" she directed her question at Nissa, wanting to avoid Winnie's penchant for over-exaggerating stories.

"Do you remember the car?" Nissa asked softly, sitting in the chair Iliana vacated. She had slipped out of the room as Nissa and Winnie had come in. Keller felt her absense keenly.

"Yes. And I remember the blue fire." Keller said quickly. "What happened after that? How long was I out?"

"Just a day." Nissa answered. "She healed you, but you weren't waking up. It was that bad." Nissa was silent for a moment, in which they could just hear Winnie's sobbing.

"We thought we'd lost you, boss." Her dark eyes looked sad, and Keller felt momentarily guilty for not thinking of them as the end had been coming. Only Iliana had occupied her mind.

"Luckily," Nissa continued "we seem to have found the only Wild Power to have healing fire." she smiled.

"Just my luck." Keller agreed out loud, though silently she thought that if either of Jez or Delos's soulmates had been fatally injured, she had no doubt that they too would discover the healing properties in their magic. "So, what is Grandma Harman doing here?" She asked.

"Iliana was inconsoleable." Winnie wiped her tears away with the comforter, taking over the narrative. "Your injuried had closed up, but you wouldn't wake...she was afraid it hadn't been enough. She even tried to conjure up the fire again, but it wouldn't come. I think she exhausted herself with that first blast, and she'd already been injured-"

"She cut her hand.." Keller gasped, finally placing the strange injury. "For me?" She was horrified.

"Of course she did." Nissa cut in, giving Keller the same knowing glance she had been all week. Keller flushed again.

"When it didn't work, she begged us to call a Night World healer. Grandma Harman flew right in from Vegas." Nissa finished. "So congratulations boss, all you had to do was get hit by a car, now we've got our third Wild Power on board. She and Grandma Harman hit it right off."

Keller sank back into the sheets, taking in all the new information. "The house?" She asked.

"The wards have been strengthened by the Crone herself, we've got an around the clock patrol of guards and we're not to leave here until Saturday, for the ceremony."

The last words hit Keller like a punch in the gut. They were more painful than getting hit by a car, the realisation that her soulmate would be promised to someone else in a matter of days. And she still couldn't do anything about it. Her face fell into a picture of misery as a dark sickness settled upon her.

"Iliana's agreed to stay home from school, don't worry!" Winnie piped up, misreading Keller's expression.

Later that evening, after Keller had been examined by Grandma Harman and given the all-clear, she made her way down into the kitchen for dinner. It seemed that The Dominick family had been filled in on everything now, and there was no need for secrecy. Keller ascertained this by the nervous looks Iliana's mother kept on shooting Nissa, after she had hugged Keller and thanked her for saving Iliana's life. Iliana was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting by Winnie – away from Galen, Keller noted with pleasure – and picking at her food. Keller herself felt too tired to talk much, so it was Grandma Harman who kept the conversation flowing, prompted every now and then by questions about the Night World from Iliana's mother and father.

Keller tuned the conversation out, going over the events of the previous day in her mind. She felt peculiar, and completely, utterly lost. Iliana had accepted the Night World now, something she had been doubting would ever happen. And she was definitely aware of their bond. But it didn't change anything. It _couldn't, _she thought grimly. The uniting of Iliana and Galen was almost as important as uniting the four Wild Powers. If it didn't happen – for whatever reason – she would practically be dooming the Circle Daybreak. What they had seen at the mall had confirmed its importance. Some of the shapeshifters had surely already defected the the Dragon's side, they _needed _the Drache family on the side of Circle Daybreak, then at least it would be an even split.

She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't notice dinner was over until she heard the scraping of chairs around her. She jumped up, her food barely touched. She allowed Iliana's mother to make a fuss over her for a minute before excusing herself. She didn't know where to go for privacy...she had slept in the lounge with Nissa the first night, but that room was like Circle Daybreak central right now. And she'd clearly slept in Iliana's room last night – but Keller felt so out of place there it was laughable. Still, it was the only choice, save locking herself in the bathroom...then Nissa and Winnie would know something was up for sure. She'd just sunk down onto the pink, fluffy bed, feeling exhausted when the door opened.

"Hey." Galen said softly. To her surprise, Keller didn't even feel her usual irritation at his presence. She nodded at him.

"I just...wanted to say thank you. For saving her." He stood in the doorway awkwardly, but his expression was intense.

Keller sighed. "I didn't do it for you."

"I know." He replied, having the decency to look somewhat shamed. "But still...I couldn't have done that. I wouldn't have got there in time."

"No." She agreed. The irritation was beginning to sink back in. She frowned. "I told you that you'll have to be stronger to take care of her."

"That's...why I'm here." He stepped closer to her, his golden hair seeming to glow even in the shadows of the room. "I...I came to ask if you'd teach me."

The words stung keenly. Keller was shocked. "Teach...you?"

"For her." he said, and the words hung between them for a long moment.

Keller glared at him, her heart pounding furiously, while reason calmed her anger. She dropped her gaze, feeling defeated.

"Fine. For her."

She didn't need to look up to know he'd left, though he made no sound. He may be weak, she thought, but he's a true shifter. Still, she knew where this path would lead. Galen would marry Iliana, and he'd learn from Keller...he'd do his best, but it wouldn't be enough. Iliana would need more, other bodyguards and protectors. Keller was the best. And she would never trust anyone else with her protection. She would be by Iliana's side for the rest of her life, in the shadows...

Her life lay out before her, bleak and colourless.


End file.
